Sue Guinn Legg

The Mall at Johnson City will host a free Connect!kids walk and children’s activities Saturday to help St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in its fight against childhood cancer.
Activities will begin at 10 a.m. in front of the Guest Services Center on the mall’s lower level. Fun activity stations will be set up all along the walk route through the mall’s upper and lower levels. The first 150 kids to finish the walk will receive a free Mother’s Day craft. Connect!kids T-shirts will be available for a $5 donation to St. Jude and the mall will match all donations received up to a total of $500.
Mall Marketing Director Marsha Hammond said the walk will provide everyone an opportunity to help St. Jude and “will truly make a difference in helping the children of St. Jude fight cancer and other deadly diseases.”
Recognized internationally for its pioneering research and treatment of children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases regardless of their ability to pay, the Memphis-based St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has helped push overall survival rates for childhood cancer from less than 20 percent to almost 80 percent since its founding in 1962. With a daily operating cost of $1.7 million, the hospital is funded primarily through private contributions and fundraising events. For more information about St. Jude, visit www.stjude.org.
The fifth annual benefit motorcycle ride to help Court Appointed Special Advocates of Northeast Tennessee help local children who are abused and neglected will be Saturday morning at Smith Brothers Harley-Davidson, 3518 Bristol Highway.
Registration will begin at 10 and the ride will start at 11. The entry fee is a $10 donation per rider. The first 20 riders registered will receive a free T-shirt and all participants will be treated to free food and drinks upon their return to the dealership. The ride celebration will also include music by the Wolf Creek Band staring at noon, a corn hole tournament to be held from 1-3 p.m., and a live broadcast by WQUT Tri-Cities Classic Rock throughout the day.
All proceeds from the ride will go to CASA to help recruit, train, monitor and support volunteers to serve as Court Appointed Special Advocates and speak up for the best interests of abused and neglected children in the local area. For more information about the ride, including sponsorship opportunities still available, call CASA at 461-3500 or email eadmin@casanetn.org.
The Fresh Market has joined forces with the Share Our Strength No Kid Hungry campaign to end child hunger in America.
Beginning this month, two specially designed, limited-edition reusable shopping bags will be available for purchase at all of The Fresh Market’s 131 stores. And 50 percent of the proceeds from every bag sold will be used to help No Kid Hungry connect children in need with nutrition programs in their communities and teach their families how to cook healthy, affordable meals.
Through May 19, paper cupcakes will be available at the stores for a donation to No Kid Hungry. And from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. May 18, The Fresh Market store on State of Franklin Road will host a cupcake-decorating benefit from which 100 percent of the proceeds from every $3 cupcake sold and decorated will go to the campaign.
“By drawing on our collective strengths, together we will make sure all children get the healthy food they need, every day,” said Billy Shore, founder and CEO of Share Our Strength. For more information about the campaign, visit NoKidHungry.org.
The National Association of Letter Carriers will conduct its 21st annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive on Saturday at mailboxes everywhere. It’s the largest one-day food drive in the nation, and joining in is as a simple as placing a donation of nonperishable food items by your mailbox before the letter carriers’ daily run. All donations made locally will be delivered to Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee to help an estimated 39,000 area residents who depend on monthly assistance from community pantries served by the food bank.

If there is a need or a project in your neighborhood the Good Neighbor column can assist with, contact Sue Guinn Legg at slegg@johnsoncitypress.com, P.O. Box 1717, Johnson City, TN 37605 1717 or 929-3111, ext. 335.